The number of people who died on Allen County roads more than doubled in 2021 from the year before and the Regional Planning Commission is researching why. Holly Geaman has more on why they study fatal crashes.
Fatal Crashes in Allen County increased by 120% in 2021. There were 24 crashes that took 26 lives. There were only 9 lives lost in 2020.
Allen County Coroner John Meyer adds, “We’re seeing an increase the last year of deaths on the roadways and the reason that we’re doing this is to make people more aware of what’s going on and to make them more aware when they’re behind the wheel of a car.”
The Allen County Regional Planning Commission has the duty of examining the fatal crashes to figure to see if changes in the roadway, signals, or signs can make it safer for motorists. A Traffic Safety Grant gives them the resources needed to do the research.
Cody Doyle is an Associate Planner at the RPC and says, “Part of that grant is were view every fatal accident that takes place in the county and try to look at things that we can do differently in the future. Through maybe engineering or education that will help sort of maybe curb some of those accidents overall throughout the county if we can spot a trend or maybe look at a specific location and try to place recommended measures there.”
Adam Haunhorsd is a planning engineer and says, “We use these kinds of reports to help improve accidents, help prioritize where improvements go. We’ve seen some pretty dramatic road work in the county in the last year and I would like to think that we’re using some of this data.”
The Ohio Department of Transportation completed changes for the traffic pattern at a high accident area on U.S. 30 in Allen County. An R-Cut was put at the intersection at Thayer Road last summer. RPC says that 80-percent of at fault drivers where from 30 miles or more away from Allen County and unfamiliar with the road.
Cody again, “Since the R-Cut has been implemented I think that most of the people that have traveled through will see that it’s not nearly as difficult to traverse as you think, and it really makes it so much easier for you when you’re only navigating traffic comes from one side and you get a chance to negotiate the other independently.”
The 2021 Fatal Crash Report along past year reports can be found on their website.
